


Some Things Change

by PrinceSkylar



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Closeted Trans Character, Coming Out, Crushes, M/M, Trans Male Character, naruto's pronouns switch after he comes out, shikamaru pov mostly, trans character written by a trans author, trans naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 16:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12774570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSkylar/pseuds/PrinceSkylar
Summary: Shikamaru's used to being able to help Naruto with any problem. He just wished he knew what this new problem was, and why things had to be so hard.





	Some Things Change

**Author's Note:**

> so there's a sad lack of trans naruto fics out there so I'm gonna fix that. I haven't written anything Naruto related in years, honestly, so they're probably super out of character.  
> Naruto's a trans guy here, but this fic is mostly from Shika's POV so Naruto is going to be referred to as she/her up until he comes out. I'm a trans guy myself, but i do not speak for the entire trans community. I hope this doesn't offend anyone.

"Hey, Do you think I'm weird?"

Shikamaru tore his gaze away from his math book, looking over at the other with a slightly arched eyebrow. Naruto had her text books closed, had probably had them closed for a while now. Well, so much for studying. Shikamaru shifted a bit from where he sat on the floor of the girl's room, rolling his shoulders a bit. "Depends on what you mean by weird, I guess."

Naruto made a face, nose crinkling as she frowned. Shikamaru knew her well enough to know something had to be up, considering how silent the usually loud blonde had been the past hour and a half. Their studying sessions were hardly ever quiet, not by a long shot. Shikamaru was patient though, and he closed his text book before he turned to face the other's bed fully, looking up at her. "What did you mean by weird?"

This time Naruto sighed and it sounded like a mixture of tired and exasperated. She made a vague gesture with her hand, looking away. "I dunno. It wouldn't make sense I guess."

Shikamaru gave a small eye roll, pulling his knees up to his chest as he stared up at the other. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't really tell what. That sort of bothered him, if he were being honest.

They'd been best friends since the first grade, had never really had a fight, and could read each other better than anyone else. Sure, Naruto was loud and a bit of a pain in the neck at times while Shikamaru preferred to be quiet and calm, but they sort of balanced each other out that way. It wasn't like Shikamaru had any complaints anyways; their friendship was great. He could tell her anything and Naruto wouldn't sugar coat her opinion or spare his feelings and, really, that was probably a good thing. Honesty was important, it was something Naruto valued a lot. Shikamaru valued that too, valued the way they could trust each other so easily with anything. And hey, if he had developed a bit of a  _crush_  on her over the years...well, it wasn't like people hadn't expected it to happen.

"I'm sure it would make more sense than you think." Shikamaru offered after a solid minute of watching Naruto fidget with the sleeve of her shirt in an attempt to avoid further conversation. It was a nervous habit. Shikamaru had seen Naruto's dad do the same thing before.

Naruto frowned again and glanced at him, blue eyes narrowed a little bit. Shikamaru just offered a slight smile, making Naruto groan and throw her hands up in the air. "Like...ugh! Don't you think I'm not normal or something?"

"Normal is a bit of a useless term considering the friends we have," He pointed out as he pushed himself to his feet, knees cracking loudly. Jeeze, what was he, an old guy? He sat on the edge of the bed and cocked his head at her curiously. "I think you're just fine, Naruto."

She stared at him, her frustration written all over her face. It was making Shikamaru kind of anxious, really. She tore her gaze away again and sighed, gesturing to herself. "I don't like...look like other girls."

Naruto had never really been very "feminine" to begin with. She'd always stuck to jeans and t-shirts, sometimes even stealing clothes from their friend Kiba when ever they went over there. She avoided a lot of things deemed feminine or girly, avoided it like the plague, really. Which no one seemed to care about. It wasn't weird.

"Like...even my hair." Naruto added, drawing Shikamaru's attention to her bright blonde hair.

She'd cut her hair their freshman year of high school. Shikamaru would be the first to admit that it had been...startling at first. They'd all known Naruto with hair as long as her mothers, messy and wild. So when she had cut it nearly as short as Kiba's hair, just long enough to frame her face still, it had taken them all a day or two to get used to it. It fit her well though, and she kept it like that even now in their senior year. It looked good on her. Looked right.

Shikamaru gave a lazy shrug. "Your hair is fine. Did someone say something to you?"

He wasn't against punching a couple bullies for Naruto's sake.

Naruto blinked and snorted, shaking her head. "No, no...no one said anything. I dunno. I just...I feel weird. Not...normal, I guess."

It kind of pained Shikamaru to see her like this. He couldn't really help if he didn't know what the problem was, and from the looks of it Naruto wasn't sure what the problem really was either. Shikamaru looked away, thinking it over. They  _were_ on the cusp of adulthood. It certainly wouldn't be unusual for Naruto to want to find herself a little more, maybe fit in with other girls. This was the age of growth after all, when girls were looking for partners, for futures...

He blinked in surprise and frowned slowly to himself. Was there a guy Naruto was interested? Or a girl?

It wouldn't have surprised him much. There were plenty of people who were crushing on the energetic blonde, even some of their close friends had crushed on him at some point. Even Shikamaru...

But Shikamaru would never want Naruto to change herself for his sake. He liked her just fine the way she was, couldn't find a single trait about her that he truly hated. Sure she was loud, but so was her mother. It was just how they were; expressive. She was a bit messy here and there, sure, but she always cleaned when company came over and she always helped other people clean, too. She was just... _nice_ like that. She was great. Better than most people Shikamaru knew in his life, and he knew a  _lot_ of people.

If this  _was_  because of some crush, Shikamaru didn't really like the idea of Naruto trying to change to gain the affection of someone. It didn't sound very...Naruto.

"You're a gorgeous girl, you know." He told her, the words tumbling from his lips before he could sop himself. He looked over at her, watching her eyes widen a bit. "You're fine the way you are; you don't have to change."

Shikamaru wasn't the type to be kind and expect anything in return. He liked to be nice, contrary to what some people seemed to believe. However he couldn't help but feel a little let down at the way Naruto's lips pressed together, gaze lowering a bit so that they weren't locking eyes any more. He felt like he'd said the wrong thing all of a sudden, had made things weird. "Naruto-"

"God, I'm tired all of a sudden." She laughed, catching him by surprise as she ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, man."

Shikamaru was far from stupid. He knew a hint when he heard one and he gave a curt nod, standing up and reaching down to collect his text books from the floor, trying to ignore the pang of guilt stabbing at his chest. "Yeah, no worries. Do you wanna study again tomorrow or...?"

"I'll text you." She told him with a casual shrug, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corner of her lips. It didn't look genuine, wasn't as warm as her smiles usually were.

Shikamaru nodded, pushing his books into his backpack. "Alright, then. See ya."

Naruto didn't text him.

In fact, they hadn't spoken in about four days now. Shikamaru was used to seeing Naruto all the time on school breaks, going out with their friends together. So when Naruto didn't text him, had dropped out of their plans to see a movie with Kiba and Hinata that following day after Shikamaru left, he felt a little sick with worry. He probably shouldn't have left, he realized on day four, while in the middle of being drug around the mall with Ino. He felt bad. Awful, actually, the nagging feeling that he had said something to upset the other prodding at the back of his mind nonstop. He wasn't the only one that Naruto had been avoiding in the last four days either, it seemed.

"It was weird, you know?" Ino murmured as she held a shirt up to herself in a mirror, eyeing it. "She was supposed to come over yesterday to help Sakura and I with that chem project the three of us have due when school picks back up but she totally bailed. She emailed us her half and said she'd have the rest ready when school started. I tried calling her after that but she didn't pick up. Neji said Naruto's ignored his texts too."

Guilt settled deep in Shikamaru's gut, making him sigh. "Probably my fault, I think." He admitted softly. He considered sending Naruto a text right now, but it seemed clear she wanted to be alone.

Ino shot him a curious look as she slid the shirt back onto the rack she found it on. "Why? Did you say something stupid?"

"I...don't really know, honestly." He muttered, shoving his hands deep into his sweater pockets. "She was being weird when I was studying with her at her place. She started asking if I thought she was weird, started saying how she isn't like...girly. I figured she probably liked someone into girly-types. So all I said was that she was gorgeous already and didn't have to change. Then she kicked me out very politely and...hasn't spoken to me."

Ino hummed in thought, frowning to herself. "That doesn't sound stupid at all, then." She sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, Shikamaru. I mean she's avoiding  _everyone_ so I doubt whatever's wrong has to do with what you said."

"I still feel bad though." He told her, awkwardly glancing away. He was probably closer to Ino than their other female friends, excluding Naruto. She was hot headed, sure, but she was thoughtful and really fucking smart. As tiring as she could be with her constant moving around,s he was nice to be around. He just couldn't help but feel weird talking to her about this. "Should I go and apologize or something?"

Ino blinked in surprise and shrugged a bit. "If you think you should then I don't see why not."

Well, that wasn't really the answer he had been wanting. As much of a genius as he was, there were certain situations where Shikamaru just wanted the god damn answer handed to him already. It wasn't that he was too lazy to sit and figure out an answer on his own, but he knew with a situation like this his own feelings would cloud the bigger picture. When it came to Naruto his common sense seemed to slip away at the worst of times.

He sighed heavily and nodded. "Have I ever told you how helpful you are?" He asked dryly.

Ino scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, hush or I'll make you try clothes on too, mister."

As it turned out, on the morning of day five Shikamaru woke up to the sound of his phone blaring next to his ear, Naruto's ring tone making his heart skip a beat. He answered his phone, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Hey, wanna come over?" Naruto sounded as casual as ever, as if she hadn't been ignoring all of her friends for five days straight.

"Yeah, when?" He found himself asking, forcing back a yawn.

Naruto hummed in thought. "Whenever, I guess. Mom and Dad are out shopping though, so if you get here before they get back there's no snack food."

He snorted softly, a smile tugging at his lips. "Fine with me. I'll head over after I get dressed."

"M'kay, the door will be unlocked." Naruto told him, hanging up.

Shikamaru couldn't help but smile a little wider. Whatever had bothered Naruto must have passed, or at least stopped being a big enough deal to make her seem so...out of it. He rolled out of bed and started looking for clothes, biting the inside of his cheek as his mind wandered a bit. He usually wasn't one for slacking off when they needed to be doing something but maybe he could convince Naruto to go on a walk with him instead.

_Like it would even be hard to convince her not to study_ , He figured.

They could walk to the park. It was a nice day after all, there were probably people out at the park with their kids and their dogs. And Naruto  _did_ love dogs. They could pet dogs and lay in the grass, maybe cloud watch and then...well, Shikamaru couldn't let his mind wander too much. That was dangerous territory to venture into. He'd start thinking about Naruto's smile and Naruto's eyes and the way Naruto's hand felt in his own...

He groaned, face heating up as he tugged on a shirt.  _Damn_.

It wasn't a good idea to think too hard on that. There was still a chance Naruto had eyes on someone else, making Shikamaru's stomach flip anxiously a bit. He was a smart guy most days, but right now he was just worried. Dating at this age was always weird. They were leaving high school in a few months and if Naruto liked someone already, there was always the chance that she and Shikamaru wouldn't see each other as much. Which Shikamaru understood. He'd never get a mad at Naruto for something like that, for having a life outside of their friendship. He was just...used to always being involved with everything Naruto did. They were glued at the hip most of the time, but things were changing. Sure, they weren't talking about college yet. They weren't talking about moving out yet. But that would all come soon enough and surely, knowing Naruto, whoever he was with at the time would play a large part in where she went, what she did.

Shikamaru was a smart guy, but when it came to Naruto sometimes he was an idiot and sometimes his mind wandered to places he didn't like. It was scary, even if he didn't want to say it out loud. He'd been careful not to let his crush slip out, and those of their friends who knew never said anything. A part of him was starting to regret not saying anything, while another part of him was sure that if he didn't say anything now, he'd never get the chance.

If there was one thing he'd learned from being friends with Naruto, it was to take risks even if you were pretty sure failure was on the horizon. You never know until you try. So here he was, letting himself into the Uzumaki household like he'd been doing for years. The climb upstairs felt longer than ever while words whizzed around in his brain, half formed confessions mingling with words like "love", "afraid", and "ruined". When did Shikamaru become so anxious?

Naruto was folding laundry on her bed when Shikamaru stepped into her room and when their eyes met, Naruto grinned. It was a warm smile that made Shikamaru smile back on reflex. "Hey, Shika."

"Hey." He replied, lingering in the door way. "Need any help?"

She snorted softly. "You hate laundry."

"I do," He agreed with a small chuckle, leaning against the door frame as he crossed his arms. His smile faded a bit as he watched her, watched the way her hands worked, thin fingers careful and quick as she folded.

The silence stretched for only a minute, one that felt like ages, before Naruto glanced at him. "What's got you thinking over there?"

Shikamaru shrugged a bit, biting the inside of his cheek again as his brain raced to form the right words in his head. "I wanted to say something. It's kind of...all over the place."

"That's a first for you." Naruto teased fondly.

He blinked and smiled a bit. "Yeah...just, hear me out, alright? Don't...say anything until I get it all out."

She paused and looked at him again, eyeing him before she gave a short, curt nod. "Alright...go for it."

He nodded, pushing off the door frame to walk towards the bed. "When I was here last time I feel like I said something wrong." He began, sitting on the edge of the bed and reaching into the laundry basket, pulling out something to fold, to keep his hands busy. "I guess I didn't get why you were asking me all that stuff...asking if you were weird for not being girly. I thought maybe you liked someone and wanted to be more girly or whatever for them, which sounded ridiculous to me. You're  _Naruto_ ; you're perfect already, you know?" He murmured, setting aside the folded shirt and reaching for another, not looking at Naruto. "I don't know, it just...made me feel weird. I kinda just jumped to automatically telling you that you were fine the way you are. It would make total sense if you wanted to change up a bit; it happens at our age. We change...we find new people."

He hesitated and frowned a bit, taking a moment to regain his composure. "That kind of...worried me, I guess. We're always together. We always know how to help each other...but I didn't really know how to help because I had no clue what the real problem was. I...still don't. But things are going to be changing a lot soon for...all of us. So I guess I wanted to get something off my chest before anything happens." He murmured and bit his lip, finally looking at Naruto with what he hoped was a confident expression. "I like you, Naruto, and I want you to be my girlfriend, if you don't already like someone else."

Naruto seemed to grow tense, eyes widening a bit. Shikamaru's short lived confidence was dwindling by the second.

Naruto sighed and brought her hands up to rub at her face. "...I can't."

"Why not?" He asked, unable to stop himself now that it was out in the open.

Naruto groaned and looked over at him. "I'm...I'm a guy, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise, letting the words register in his brain. "...Is this what's been bothering you?"

Naruto hesitated, eyes on his lap. "...Yes. I...I've been thinking about it for...a while. But I thought maybe I was just weird...I didn't know what to think. Then when you called me a girl to my face last time it just felt so...wrong. I...I freaked out so bad when you left Shikamaru, I wanted to call you and tell you to come back but I didn't want you to think less of me or think I was a freak."

Shikamaru's heart ached. He frowned and pushed the laundry basket out of the way, sliding his arm around Naruto and pulling the blonde closer. Naruto got the message and leaned into the other, arms wrapping around Shikamaru's middle as he sniffled just barely into Shikamaru's shoulder.

"I don't think you're a freak, Naruto. I'm sorry for ever making you think I would." He murmured. "...You're Naruto, no matter what-...that is still what you want to go by, right?"

Naruto blinked and laughed, bringing a hand up to wipe at his eyes. "Yeah, Naruto is still fine." He murmured, leaning away to look at Shikamaru. "...You really don't think it's weird?"

"Of course I don't." Shikamaru murmured with a slight smile. "Do your parents know?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah...that's why I've been avoiding everyone lately...I wanted a few days to myself with Mom and Dad. They were so supportive, Shika..."

"Of course they were; you have awesome parents." Shikamaru snorted as he lifted a hand to ruffle Naruto's hair. He smiled a bit and then hesitated. "So...this is probably a long shot but...do you want to be my  _boyfriend_?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he smiled slightly, his face heating up. "You still wanna date me even though I'm a guy...?"

"Your gender has nothing to do with me wanting to date you," Shikamaru smiled a little bit. "Don't feel obligated to agree, though."

Naruto was chuckling, pressing his face into Shikamaru's shoulder again. "...I'll be your boyfriend, if you really wouldn't mind it..."

Shikamaru grinned widely as he pulled Naruto into another hug, feeling his heart hammering away in his rib cage. Things were changing for them, but he was going to make sure he was by Naruto's side for all of it.


End file.
